Ignorance Is Bliss
by Sargent Snarky
Summary: discontinued Kite and Tsukasa exist merely as vagrant A.I.s, remembering nothing of their past before Aura gave them a second chance.While their friends grieve, they wander The World innocently, freely, and happily.Ah yes, their ignorance is bliss.
1. Prologuerly thing

**Ignorance Is Bliss**

By Sargent Snarky

Sequel to Fragments Of A Shattered Mirror.

Note: This occurs after Epilogue Three. The 'prologue' actually occurs before the epilogue, but I never included it in the epilogue, because… I didn't want to. It just didn't fit there. It's pretty depressing, but… It's necessary to set up a few things. I may actually delete the prologue later, a few chapters down the road. It depends on how the writing of this goes.

Disclaiming: I do not own .hack, but I DO own this plot. Please don't plagiarize!

Further notations located in the Author's Notes at the end of the chapter.

Summary: Kite and Tsukasa now exist merely as vagrant A.I.s, remembering nothing of their past before Aura gave them their 'second chance.' While their friends grieve, they wander The World innocently, freely, and happily. Ah yes, their ignorance _is_ bliss.

**Prologue : Dead as a Doornail**

"Any change?" asked Balmung of Orca.

Orca shook his head and sighed. "No… Still in comas, both of them… still teetering between life and death…"

Balmung nodded, eyes clouded with worry. It just wasn't right! Kite had _saved_ everyone else from being trapped in comas forever, so why did he have to fall inescapably into one? It just wasn't bloody fair.

Orca shifted a bit, then asked, "So, how have you been doing? Haven't seen you since…"

"Mmm.. I've been fine. I felt under the weather for a day or two after waking up, and luckily I was excused from classes," said the knight. He smiled a little. "Hey, I must say, falling into a temporary coma is certainly an effective way to get due-date extensions."

Orca laughed softly. "Tell me about it."

"Ah, but you had a lot more catching up to do. I just missed three days of classes total. You missed several months."

Nodding, Orca sighed, what little levity he had gone. "Yeah, but Kite helped me catch up, even though he had a hell of a lot of work to make up, too."

"Eh?"

"During… the… uh… incident, Kite apparently really let his grades slip because he spent so much time here… fighting…"

"Oh. How just like him."

"Yeah…"

Silence followed, not exactly awkward, but not exactly comfortable either. Their thoughts once again drifted to Kite and Tsukasa, still unconscious, with their bodies slipping closer and closer to death with each passing day.

Suddenly, Orca closed his eyes, shaking his head and speaking with a slightly cracking voice. "Oh god, it's awful to see them there… wasting away like that. It's been a month, yet they've shown no signs of awakening. No sign of even being here in The World. Even the logs don't hold any trace of them after… But, they're just lying there! They don't respond to anything! The only things keeping them alive are machines, medicine and needles… And even those are failing. It's summer holiday, but all three of us have the exams to get into high school coming up, but even if they do wake up, they won't be able to take them… and it'll be a long time before they can take them and my family doesn't even live on the same island anymore, much less the same city. So it's not like I can even go see them often anyway… Not that there's anything we can do for them anyway… and… I'm sorry about ranting like this, Balmung, but I just can't take it anymore!"

Balmung nodded. "I understand. Go ahead and say whatever you need to. That's what friends are for, you know."

"I know… I just wish there was some way I could be useful. Some way I could _do_ something for Kite and Tsukasa. Neither of them deserves this… And I just feel so helpless."

A sigh escaped Balmung's lips. "I feel the same way, Orca…"

The avatar of Orca froze for a moment as Yasuhiko half removed his neuro goggles. He blinked several times, then rubbed his eyes, fighting the stinging tears, which threatened to spring forth. Once certain he wasn't going to cry, he pulled the headset back on and turned to Balmung.

"I'm sorry," Yasu murmured. "But… I've got to go."

And he logged out, then put the computer to sleep. Heaving a sigh, Yasu stared at his desk for a long time. Specifically, he stared at a picture frame that held multiple pictures of him and his friends goofing around. He and Kite had been best friends, and Kite was in many of those pictures. Yasu felt his eyes begin to water again, and he stood up, turning away, trying to force his thoughts upon anything else. He even resorted to getting out one of the books he was supposed to study to help him on the rigorous exams for getting into high school. It didn't work. Nothing worked.

- - - - - - - - -

Mimiru sat curled up in a chair next to Amaya's bedside. The chair was crowded in among a multitude of monitors, a machine that gasped and clicked horribly as it forced Amaya's lungs to work, an IV stand laden with a few bags of stuff, which dripped into Amaya's veins via a needle in her arm, and other things, about which Mimiru knew little if anything at all. Though the monitor of Amaya's heart rate, among other things, beeped in a steady rhythm, and the machine that made sure the girl kept on breathing made a fair amount of noise, Mimiru didn't hear them. At least not anymore.

She had, at one point, been unable to spend more that ten minutes at a time with Amaya or Kite, because the noise had bothered her so, but now she was acclimated. She spent hours with them, watching over them as long as the hospital staff allowed her to stay there. Sometimes her vigil was alone. Sometimes she was joined by others: Bear (Mimiru never called him by his real name), Yasuhiko, Marie, Kite's sister Naomi, occasionally his parents (usually when they came, his mother was in tears after maybe ten seconds, and they didn't come often in part because it did pain them so to see their only son like this), Sora (who didn't live too far away – not within walking distance of anyone, but certainly within driving distance, and he'd somehow gotten Bear to bring him here, since he was only eleven ), a few classmates of Kite who came by every now and again, and a few teachers of Kite or Tsukasa. Twice, Akemi and Kazu had come. Once, Crim had come. Mimiru didn't remember his name, though – only that he was Crim.

But right now, Mimiru's vigil was a solo affair. She stared listlessly at Amaya, eyes full of worry. The girl on the bed was entirely too thin. Amaya had always been skinny, but now she seemed almost anorexic, or perhaps worse than anorexic. Her skin was pale, almost gray in a way, and it was stretched tightly across all her bones, outlining them for easy viewing. Her hair – usually a glossy blue-black – was lank and without shine. Mimiru had brushed it every now and again, but since the only movement of Amaya was when the nurses tended her, (and then the movement was not caused by Amaya herself) the hair remained relatively tangle free.

Kite was little better. Worse, actually. He seemed thinner (if that were possible), and his skin more ashen. And similar machines surrounded him, forcing his lifeless body to keep on living. Or at least existing. Mimiru would hardly call the state they were in 'living.'

Mimiru sighed, shifting her position in her chair as one leg began to go numb. Suddenly, though, against all hope, Amaya stirred. It wasn't much, just a soft noise and the twitching of her fingers, but that was at least something. Mimiru leant forward anxiously. She called Amaya's name, but nothing further happened. She gripped Amaya's hand and kept calling, but still nothing. She sighed and was just leaning back in her chair when Amaya stirred again.

Her fingers curled weakly around Mimiru's hand, a pitiful attempt to squeeze it. And a soft sound escaped her lips, but it was muffled by the apparatus over her mouth and nose that forced her to breath. Her eyelids twitched, then squeezed together. A few tears leaked out from the corners, and Amaya made another (more successful) attempt to squeeze Mimiru's hand. Suddenly, Mimiru noticed that the beeps of the heart rate monitor were growing slower, and slower. And then, even as Amaya's hand abruptly grew limp once more, the machine let out one long, continuous beep.

The only other sound besides those of the machines and the click of shoes as nurses ran to the room was a heart-wrenching sob…

Suddenly, even as two nurses were about to rush into Amaya's room, Mimiru came running out of it, barely able to walk herself. Ignoring another nurse who tried to do something to comfort the distraught teenager, Mimiru ran into Kite's room. And then her legs gave way as her eyes saw the same straight line upon the monitor and heard the same continuous beep. She buried her face in her hands, sobbing.

- - - - - - - - -

"I don't suppose there's been any change from yesterday?" asked Balmung of Orca.

Orca didn't seem to hear him, but was staring straight ahead at nothing. Then, he twitched. "Huh?"

"I said, I don't suppose there's been any change from yesterday," repeated Balmung with a frown. "Are you all right?"

Orca only now looked into Balmung's eyes, and then he burst out laughing. It was a terrible, cynical, bitter, unhappy, awful laugh, and Balmung did not like it at all. He wondered for his friend's sanity.

"Orca?"

Suddenly the laughter vanished. "They're dead, Balmung," Orca said, voice and eyes utterly hollow.

Balmung's eyes widened. "Wh- what!"

"They're dead. I only came online to tell you that. Damn it. They died yesterday afternoon, maybe an hour after I talked to you. They're gone… Oh god, they're gone," he whispered.

And then Orca was gone amid three golden rings, leaving Balmung to stare at where he'd been with horror and grief.

* * *

Author Notes:

Wow. That officially qualifies for the most depressing thing I've ever written, I think. As I said before, I may wind up deleting this a few chapters down the road. Why? Because depending on how the writing of this goes, the prologue might wind up being redundant. But, right now it just serves to let you know a few things. Like, they're dead. I know. Really depressing, right? Sorry.

Umm... and as for Orca and Mimiru's reactions... well.. I was just thinking about how I'd react if my best friend died... And I think I'd probably be sobbing my eyes out like Mimiru... Or just kind of... staring off into space in shock like Orca.

Please be assured that, while parts of this will always be depressing, I will have some happy fluffy parts. Yay for fluff! Even though I'm not the best at writing it, this'll give me good practice. This story will include angst, romance, joy, sadness, depression, elation, and just a little bit of action. There won't be much action in this (I'm sorry adrenaline junkies) because this story doesn't follow a particular quest, or anything that really requires fighting. Again, sorry.

Portions of this will focus upon Kite and Tsukasa, but other parts will focus upon their friends, because this story is about 'what happens next.' And things happen to everybody. Please note, however, that this won't be as long as Fragments. At least, I don't think it will.

Don't you like how I've got four updates in a row? And it seems that the first four titles listed in the .hack/SIGN catagory are mine?

Hm… I have a niggling idea of a sequel to this that takes place four years later… I'd like to hear what you guys think about it.

The idea is thus: How would LotT be different if this had occurred? I'll follow the manga, because I really don't like the anime. I will resist listing my reasons, for this will turn into a rant, and I don't want that. Anyway, I think writing a version of LotT as if this had occurred would be quite interesting. I mean, there are some fun to write ideas to be brought up, such as what would Kamui do about Kite and Tsukasa? What would Zefie say to them if she met them in Net Slum while with Shugo & co? Heck, what would Shugo & co. say? What would Tsukasa and Kite think about the whole affair? Would they poke their noses in? Or would they try to stay on the sidelines, watching? I wouldn't completely rewrite LotT, though. I mean, I'd skip things that wouldn't really change, or that I don't' need to talk about, since they wouldn't involve K&T. O.o So… _what do you think?_

**Get thee hence and prithee review!**


	2. Chapter Numba Uno

Ignorance Is Bliss

By Sargent Snarky

Sequel to Fragments Of A Shattered Mirror.

Note: This occurs after Epilogue Three.

Disclaiming: I do not own .hack, but I DO own this plot. Please don't plagiarize!

Further notations located in the Author's Notes at the end of the chapter.

Summary: Kite and Tsukasa now exist merely as vagrant A.I.s, remembering nothing of their past before Aura gave them their 'second chance.' While their friends grieve, they wander The World innocently, freely, and happily. Ah yes, their ignorance _is_ bliss.

**Chapter I : Getting To Know You…**

( Kudos to anyone who can tell me the name of the movie from which I stole the title of this chapter. Well, I stole it from a famous song from the movie. The song is called Getting To Know You. What's the movie? Hint in author's notes…)

(This chapter picks up not long after the epilogue.)

Kite and Tsukasa wandered through Net Slum, hand in hand, eyes turning this way and that in wonder. This place seemed so familiar, and yet… It was as if they were discovering it for the first time. At first, they met no one, not even the discombobulated AIs who populated this place, calling it Paradise. But then, turning a corner, the pair emerged into what seemed to be a main thoroughfare. Many strange beings floated, stumbled, or just sat upon the twisty, wide road. Some resembled Kite and Tsukasa in that they seemed like normal players, thought something was off. Others were only half there, literally. Random stripes and sections of their bodies were missing, or completely screwed up. Still others bore no resemblance to actual players, and they varied in their degrees of completeness.

One of the sort that was not made of character data was the first to notice Kite and Tsukasa, and his expression was filled with joy, eyes alight with it. But then, as he studied them more closely, the light dimmed somewhat, and he shook his gnarled head. He seemed like a skinny, nobby, wooden old man, with a wiry white beard, mustache and eyebrows, and he leant upon a wooden stick. His name was Tartarga, and he was among the more lucid of the AIs. As he stumped over to Kite and Tsukasa, who stared around them with confused interest, others took note of their presence and made an attempt to wave, or spouted some random phrase, or even (in a few cases) managed to actually articulate a proper greeting in a variety of languages.

"Greetings, my friends," said Tartarga, and the pair looked at him.

"Hello," said Kite.

"You are Kite and Tsukasa, are you not?"

"Yes," answered Tsukasa.

Tartarga smiled wanly. "Welcome to Paradise, then. I'm Tartarga."

"Thanks!" replied Kite, brightly. "It's good to meet you."

"Indeed," replied Tartarga, nodding to the two of them before wandering off to find Helba.

The hacker, of course, already knew about the two knew data signatures in her creation, and she had been watching them and thinking. Helba had actually watched Aura resurrect the data, too, but hadn't intervened. Why should she? She understood, after a fashion, why Aura did this, and didn't think it was her place to get involved. Not that she wanted to, anyway. Perhaps she might talk to these two new residents of Net Slum at some point, but not now… Not so soon after… they had died.

Truth be told, Helba had actually been rather fond of Kite, and she'd been quite upset when he had died. She hadn't really known Tsukasa, though she'd watched 'him' a bit during the six months 'he' had been trapped in The World the first time. So, though she was sad at Amaya's death, she wasn't quite as distraught. Still, she'd attended their funerals. It was funny, in a way, because Kite's family had been amazed and somewhat confused about the large group of people (of varying ages) in attendance whom they did not know, yet who seemed to know Kite. Amaya's 'family', which consisted of 'Bear', Mimiru and Mrs. Kurosawa, Mimiru's mother, was not surprised at all at random people who dropped in. Indeed, they actually knew them… most of them, anyway. A few from Amaya's school they didn't know, but that didn't matter. Helba had stayed relatively obscure, unnoticed for the most part.

Anyway, Helba turned her thoughts away from such matters now, instead pondering how certain friends of both Kite and Tsukasa would react if they met the AIs… Luckily, she supposed, Kite and Tsukasa didn't seem like they were going anywhere else soon…

( Some three months later…)

"You're what!" exclaimed Orca and Blackrose at the same time, both staring wide-eyed at Balmung.

The white knight chuckled softly. "I'm going to apply to become a system administrator. Hey, I do have programming skills, and it'd be at least _one_ administrator who actually has a vague understanding of The World."

"Noo! He's going to the Dark Side!" cried Blackrose, pretending to faint.

Orca just blinked at the fellow Descendent of Fianna. "You're crazy. How can you even be sure they'd let you be an administrator?"

Balmung shrugged. "I've got less than a semester of college left, and then I'll be free, complete with a couple degrees in programming and stuff. So… I'll apply to CC corporation. Besides, it's more likely they'd accept me than, oh… I don't know… just a random person."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Blackrose. "You're a computer programmer?"

"Sort of," replied Balmung. "Yes."

"Ick." Blackrose stuck out her tongue.

Balmung blinked. "What's wrong with that?"

Orca laughed and rolled his eyes at Blackrose. "It's because Piros is a computer programmer, or so Blackrose told me."

The white knight arched an eyebrow. "Really? Hmm… How do you know?"

Blackrose paused, then, looking off into space, she murmured, "Kite told me. He said that Piros had to be a programmer or designer for video games who was obsessed with food and had no grounding in reality based upon various emails exchanged."

Balmung nodded, and the levity disappeared from Orca's face. An awkward silence followed for several moments, until a light chime sounded in the ears of all three, and all three started. It was a flashmail from Elk, asking them all to meet him in a certain field.

"Did you guys get the mail from Elk, too?" asked Blackrose.

The other two nodded. "Shall we then?" asked Balmung, and off they went, first to the delta server, and then onto the designated meeting place.

Elk stood there upon the sunny field, shifting anxiously. Mia was off in the distance, poking at some Mandragoras. However, when Balmung, Orca and Blackrose appeared, she looked up, then began to meander back over. Elk glanced over at her, then turned to the other three.

"Hey, Elk," said Blackrose. "What's wrong?"

He hesitated, unsure exactly how to say it. "Um…"

"Just spit it right out," said Orca.

"Well, um… Mia and I were in Dun Loireage when.. um.. we ran into two players who looked exactly like Kite and Tsukasa. I know that's impossible, but even their voices were the same! Mia knew them, and they knew Mia… even talked a bit, but… It was really weird… They were like the same as Kite and Tsukasa were… Except different. I don't know how to explain it. They seemed happier, and yet… And they didn't know who I was at all. I mean, I could tell the recognized me… but they just couldn't seem to remember who I was. But they knew Mia right away, and…" He trailed off, gazing at the other three players with a miserable unsure confused sort of expression.

Blackrose, Orca and Balmung all exchanged puzzled, worried glances. And then Mia, ears a'twitch and tail a'swish, spoke.

"Are you talking about Kite and Tsukasa?" she asked of Elk. He nodded, so she continued, "I see. Don't worry about them. They're… fine. They're like me. But, they're not like me."

"What are you talking about?" asked Orca.

"Kite and Tsukasa. They're like me, but not like me."

"Mia…?" queried Elk.

"What do you mean?" demanded Blackrose.

The cat sighed, frowning in thought as best she could, what with a cat-face. "They… Only exist in The World," she stated after a moment. "Like me."

"Huh? But they're dead!" said Blackrose, unhappily.

Balmung suddenly let out an 'oh' of understanding. "I see… I think," he murmured.

"See what?" asked Orca.

"The players Elk saw aren't really Kite and Tsukasa, but AIs. Like Mia. Am I right?" He looked at Mia, and she nodded slowly. "But what I don't get is why, how they exist, or even what you mean by not like you."

"I see," said Elk, nodding. "But they're not like Mia because they're based off of actual players, actual people. Whoever made them probably used character data logs, among other things. But… how'd they'd get a nearly identical personality… I don't know. It's not like making AIs is easily found knowledge. They don't teach programming like that at school."

"No, they don't," agreed Balmung. "Mia… do you know where they came from? And how long they've been in the system?"

"They… came into existence in the Net Slum, and they've been here… a while. I first met them a few months ago," answered the cat player.

"Net Slum?" said Orca.

"But why would Helba do something like that!" asked Blackrose, voice quavering.

"She didn't," said Mia.

"Then who did?" demanded Blackrose.

A sudden idea occurred to Elk, and, even as Mia opened her mouth to answer, he exclaimed, "Aura!"

- - - - - - - -

_Author Notes:_

Okay-dokey-smokey! See? Not depressing at all! I _told_ you it wouldn't all be sad…

Anyway, I've already written the first chapter of my previously mentioned idea and posted it… The link is thus:

and read and tell me what you think of my fluff! Yes… I was definitely going for fluff, there… So.. Please tell me what you think.. I'm not sure my fluff is as.. em.. convincing as my angst. Oh.. do note that this sequel of a sequel, which I've entitled Anomalies of a System, takes place about four years after this one… so obviously things'll be different..

Onto Reviewer Replies! Ooh.. nine… yay!

**Nessmk2**: Thanks for reviewing everything I updated in a row. XD -feels danged- Sorry I made you so sad, what with all the sad stuff…Ok. This story won't be terribly long, and it'll deal mostly with everyone's reactions to stuff… So.. The story idea I mentioned… Linkage is up there.. –points higher up on the author notes- Umm… Well… This one will have a mostly happy ending.

**Angelyoshi:** Yup. Very sad. Of course Tsukasa and Kite are dead for good. I'm not bringing necromancy into this… O.o But in a way their souls are alive in the A.I.s

**Senkai-Ninja**: You…? Again! -gasp- Hehe… Well… Elk was just disturbed. And… Mia is not at all surprised. And.. .you'll have to wait and see about the others…

**Shadow Rav**e: -holds out box of tissues and a bag of peanut M&Ms- Popcorn tastes better with chocolate.

**Twilight Memories**: Yes… I've started my sequel idea! Muahaha! Go read it, pwease? -makes Kite give you puppy dog eyes- Umm… Shugo & Kite meeting won't happen for a couple of chapters in that one. Not until the Haunted Mansion… Oops… Shouldn't have told you that… Sorry..

**Vertigo900**: I continued. See?

**Aeris:** Angst is actually fun to write, in a way. O.o I don't mind being bugged. It'll provoke me to get off my lazy tush and write. Thanks. Check out the above link for the 'sequel like that'

**Minako:** Yes. It's continued. The above link is to mah idearly. This won't be terribly dark at all. Neither will that one, since I'm following the MANGA and not the anime.

**Sharon: **/sarcasm/ wooow. Such great grammar. Your post was soooo understandable /end sarcasm/ I'm sorry… It's just.. your post was difficult to read. Um… Kite and Tsukasa are dead, but the others'll see them soon… Shugo and Rena will come to The World. See the link upperly there. "well time past?" Huh? Do you mean Will Time Pass? If so, is there any reason why it shouldn't? Thanks for reviewing, though.

**Get thee hence and prithee review!**


End file.
